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Economy

A truly prosperous American economy is one that is diversified, driven by innovation, and works for all people. I believe that to achieve this across the country, we must embrace technology and use it as a vehicle to put people to work. I support advanced American manufacturing as well as a nationwide investment in high-tech apprenticeships and worker training programs.

Empowering a strong middle class will require an economy that benefits everyone, not just those at the top. And this starts by making good, technology-based jobs available and accessible across America. Enrico Moretti, a Berkeley economist, found that for every tech job, five other new jobs are created. This multiplier effect creates important service jobs such as baristas, doctors, lawyers, and dry cleaners, among many others.

I believe that working families are the backbone of this country, and that’s why I have made lifting them up a central part of my agenda. I am introducing a more than $1 trillion expansion of the earned income tax credit (EITC) that would provide a much-needed boost to American families to make up for wages lost to inflation over the past four decades.

I also support paid family leave, training programs for mid-career workers, and increasing the hourly minimum wage to $15. It is vital that we fight for working families, because they are the incubator of the American dream.

Consumer Protection

Consumer protection laws are Americans’ first lines of defense against unethical companies. These laws hold big corporations accountable and prevent harm to consumers. I support legislation that protects consumers and will oppose any bill to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Data breaches of major credit reporting bureaus demonstrate we need stronger laws to prevent situations like this from happening again. When you apply for a mortgage, credit card, auto loan, or almost anything having to do with credit, a company will check your credit report provided by the three private credit reporting companies.

What you can do to protect yourself

If you have a credit report, it is likely that your personal information was compromised by the Equifax data breach. Please take the time to go through the resources below and take the steps required to keep your identity safe.

More on Economy

Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Ro Khanna introduced legislation to strengthen the Federal Reserve’s mandate to pursue robust job and wage growth, on the 40th anniversary of the signing of the law that enshrined the Fed’s “maximum employment” goal.

Named after the renowned leader in the civil rights and full employment movement, the Coretta Scott King Full Employment Federal Reserve Act directs the Federal Reserve to target wages that keep pace worker productivity growth and to shrink discrepancies in unemployment due to race, gender, or geography.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) wants some credit for Amazon's new company-wide policy to hike its minimum wage to $15.

The progressive congressman representing California's 17th district has sponsored a House bill to complement Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) "Stop BEZOS Act." Khanna said Tuesday in an interview on Cheddar he thinks his legislation applied more pressure to Amazon ($AMZN), which was already under scrutiny for the working conditions of its factory employees.

"It's a major, major victory," Khanna said. "I think [Bezos] has really set the bar."

One of the most popular policy ideas to reduce rising inequality and automated job loss is the expansion of the government's current wage subsidy program, the Earned Income Tax Credit. I recently advised one member of Congress, Ro Khanna, on a bill to massively increase the EITC, and increase its payout to $3,000-6,000 per year at a cost of $1.4T over a decade.

But, how would the government afford such a large expansion? And, how much would this method of payment hurt economic or job growth?

Low-income workers haven’t received anything close to their fair economic share over the last few decades. The American economy has almost tripled in size since 1980, yet the average inflation-adjusted wage for low-income workers has risen only about 10 percent.

In anticipation of the midterm elections, congressional Republicans have recently proposed making their tax cuts permanent. The price tag would amount to $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years. The problem with the 2017 tax law is that it was geared at the investor class, not the middle class. Making the cuts permanent would give the top 1% of income earners more than double the tax savings of those in the bottom 60%.

TUCKER CARLSON, a Fox News host, and Bernie Sanders, a democratic-socialist senator, seldom agree. Yet on the matter of billionaires supposedly sponging off taxpayer largesse, they are completely simpatico. On September 5th Mr Sanders introduced a bill which would force large firms to pay taxes exactly equal to the amount of safety-net benefits consumed by their employees, including food stamps, housing vouchers and Medicaid. The target of Mr Sanders’s legislation, titled the “Stop Bad Employers by Zeroing Out Subsidies” or “Stop BEZOS” Act, was clear.